Sydney: Sydney Thunder smashed their way to the highest WBBL score at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday, chasing down Brisbane Heat’s 178 for 5 with 20 balls to spare to win by six wickets and make it two wins from two matches in WBBL|12.
Brisbane Heat, who elected to bat after winning the toss, had looked set for a winning total for much of their innings. Grace Harris struck 58 off 37 balls and Georgia Redmayne made 57 off 44, the pair adding 99 for the second wicket to carry Heat to 118 for 1 in the 14th over. Orla Prendergast chipped in with 28 off 20 in the closing overs, and Heat finished on 178 for 5 — eclipsing the previous best WBBL score of 171 at the Sydney venue, a mark Heat themselves had set there in November 2024. Georgia Voll was the pick of Thunder’s bowlers with 2 for 25.
It was not enough. Thunder lost Voll early for 2, but Phoebe Litchfield provided the early spark with a blistering 41 off just 19 balls, and England veteran Heather Knight then paced the chase with a typically smart unbeaten innings. Knight finished on 54 not out off 29 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, and was named Player of the Match. She put on 63 with Anika Learoyd, who made 37 off 28 before falling to a superb diving boundary catch by 16-year-old Aya Stafford, and then 59 with Laura Harris, who struck 35 off 16 before being caught by her sister Grace with just three runs needed for victory. Thunder reached 180 for 4 in 16.4 overs, completing their largest-ever run chase in the competition.
The result extends one of the WBBL’s most painful streaks. Brisbane Heat are now searching for a first victory in 12 matches and 702 days, stretching back to their defeat in the 2024 final on November 29, 2024. On Sunday they did almost everything right with the bat — a record total at the ground, two half-centuries, a strong finish — and still lost with more than three overs to spare, because Thunder’s batting depth proved too much. Thunder, by contrast, have now won both of their opening matches and sit at the top of the early WBBL|12 table, with Knight’s calm finishing and Litchfield’s explosive starts forming a combination few attacks will relish facing.
For Heat, the concern is no longer just results but the pattern: big totals that are not defended, and chases that get away from them in the middle overs. For Thunder, the challenge is to sustain this start when the tournament moves on — but on the evidence of Drummoyne Oval, where they hunted down 179 as if it were a par score, they will take some stopping.
Read our latest WBBL report here: https://t20star.com/wolvaardts-70-and-pennas-late-blitz-power-understrength-strikers-to-21-run-wbbl-win-over-stars/
Brief scores: Brisbane Heat 178/5 (Grace Harris 58, Georgia Redmayne 57; Georgia Voll 2-25) lost to Sydney Thunder 180/4 in 16.4 overs (Heather Knight 54*, Phoebe Litchfield 41, Anika Learoyd 37; Lily Bassingthwaighte 2-31) by six wickets.
